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I have a cat that weighs 15 pounds and he's only 1 and a half years old. I'm worried about him, but my mom says it's no big deal and it's just his bone structure, but he was so tiny when he was a kitten! Do I have a valid reason to worry?
Knowing the kind of cat that you have would be helpful. If you had a Maine Coon Cat, then this would be a normal weight. But, with pretty much any other cat, this is quite overweight.
Your mother could be correct, and it could be the way he is built. But, this still seems overweight to me.
Here's a few ways you might be able to tell if he's fat, or just big boned.
Hold your cat's front paws upwards. With his back paws on the ground, with him in a human type standing position, look at him from his front. Does he have a thin waist? Or is it rounded like a pregnant kitty?
Have your cat stand on all four paws, and feel under his belly. Feel around his lower belly between his legs, sort of where your belly button would be if it was you. Do you feel any extra skin? You might feel a sort of lump. This is fat. It might feel like a clump of hair, but no... it's just fat.
Feel along his rib cage on his sides. You should be able to feel all of his ribs with very minimal pressure applied.
As you look at his overall body composition, you should be able to tell whether or not he has extra fat on him. This should give you a good idea of whether or not he is overweight.
You say he's only 1 and a half, but this is actually getting quite close to full grown.
If you can tell me what kind of cat this is, that would be helpful.
But my honest opinion is that your cat is quite overweight and should be put on a diet. I would also suggest buying him plenty of toys to play with so that he can get more exercise.
Try looking at this question:
http://advicenators.com/qview.php?q=305152
It's about a dog, but you might get a general idea from what I said to this person.
Sorry if this is a bit rambled, I'm in the middle of a radiology essay and don't have time to re read my answer. Hope this all helps though.
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Great advice! Thank you!! I'm not actually sure what kind of cat he is: I got him at the pet shelter. He's mostly white with grey spots on his back. I don't know if that helps identify what kind of cat he is..Haha, but really, thank you for the advice!
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